Heartland FBLA sponsor and Business Education teacher Karma Yantzie and three FBLA members who attended Nationals in California reported to the board – L to R Tara Buzek, Mia Hiebner, and Austin Schmidt
It was a relatively light agenda for the Heartland School Board’s regular August meeting last Monday at 7 p.m. in a fully air-conditioned conference room.
Board members present were: Lacey Gloystein, Ryan Goertzen, Jen Hiebner, Jeb Mierau, and Tyler Newton. Absent was Tammy Ott. Superintendent Jeremy Klein, Tim Carr, High School principal, and Dana Reinke, elementary principal, were also in attendance.
There were 15 others attending the meeting, including representatives and sponsors from the Heartland FBLA chapter who recently participated in the FBLA Nationals in Anaheim, California.
Click on this LINK for the full agenda.
Dani Siebert spoke during the public forum, voicing her support for the livestreaming of the school board meetings.
The meeting opened with Karma Yantzie, the Heartland FBLA sponsor, introducing three Heartland students, Mia Hiebner, Tara Buzek, and Austin Schmidt, who competed at Nationals.
They gave a PowerPoint presentation explaining the competition, reports on Heartland’s results, and what they learned from the trip. Nine Heartland students went to Anaheim, accompanied by Yantzie and Stephanie Buzek. The students thanked the school board for their support in making the trip possible.
H&H Sports Coop Update
Superintendent Klein updated the board about recent changes to the girls’ volleyball practice schedule. The junior high coaches approached administrators from both schools about the need for more nets during practice due to the high number of girls participating. There are 27 junior girls out for volleyball.
Initially, the high school squad was to alternate between schools, and the junior high would stay at Heartland for all practices. Both schools agreed that both the junior high and high school teams should alternate schools to ensure adequate practice space and nets.
Jeb Mierau expressed that “I have a hang-up with that because that’s not what we sold to the public.” Ryan Goertzen added that it was the coaches who raised their concerns about insufficient practice space when both teams would be at Heartland.
Gloystein added that the sports coop is still a work in progress, and flexibility will be needed along the way.
Construction and Building Update
Klein reported that there had been a “tremendous amount of progress in the last month.” He said Hausmann has worked hard and long for a substantial completion, and the State Fire Marshall signed off, allowing full occupancy in the school and daycare facility. “There were more issues with the old building than the new construction, and we are taking care of them,” said Klein.
“There is still a punch list of items for Hausmann to finish, but none of them will impact starting school on time,” said Klein.
Mainstay Communications has made good progress on the cameras and door access, and he commended them for “what a super job they have done.”
He said the floor epoxy that was applied to the locker room floors turned out “great and we are very pleased with how they look.”
The exterior soffit replacement project is underway and is now ready for the spray foam application.
Building Open House Date
Sunday, August 24, 6 p.m. is the date for the School Open House. It will begin in the theater with a recognition presentation and continue with school tours led by board members.
Policy Development For Students Transporting Themselves to Hampton
The board discussed the issue of making an exception for students to drive to and from practices in Hampton. The board agreed to open up the exception to all students, regardless of their geographic distance from Hampton. They instructed Klein to proceed with creating a policy.
Livestreaming Board Meetings
The board continued its discussion of whether it wanted to livestream its meetings. Mierau restated his full support for the livestreaming because it would provide more transparency and full public knowledge.
Goertzen said he was still against it. “I think our board is already transparent, engaged, and visible in what we do. I think the new parent auxiliary group is one way to share information with the public and be actively engaged. We are always trying to get better at providing information, but I’m not sure livestreaming is the answer.”
Gloystein read a portion of the board’s strategic plan that outlined their role in providing positive communication and engagement with the public. “I feel it’s the board’s responsibility to be visible and engage with the public, like Ryan said, and there are other ways to do that.” She cited from their manual on being an effective board member about not making decisions based on emotions. “It would be a wrong decision to make if the livestreaming is an emotional reaction to the H&H sports cooperative. I’m a no for livestreaming at this time.”
Newton said he could see both sides of the question of whether to livestream or not. He was also concerned about the possibility of lawsuits and wasn’t convinced it was necessary yet. Mierau replied that he saw “a minuscule risk in livestreaming.”
No action was taken.
The remainder of the meeting was taken up with the approval of several action items and discussion of the upcoming budget process and timeline. The Finance Committee will hold a special meeting on August 25 at 6 p.m.
The next regular meeting is scheduled for Monday, September 8th. The meeting was adjourned at 8:47 p.m
